We need a bunch of new buildings

[_Chrysippus_]

There are desks made out of steel. Granted it's not quite the same composition as the steel that goes into a flight deck but that's just because it doesn't make sense to heavily treat steel that goes into a desk. It's not because you can't if it made economic sense. I don't even understand where the other analogy is coming from. I really don't understand how turning a resource that you have a lot of into a resource that you don't is like "paying off a credit card with a credit card".

That's what I mean, since alloys are used mostly for military installations it doesn't make much sense to me to go through refining the minerals just to be made into lesser objects.

 

[_Chrysippus_]

I really like that Zro and Dark Matter are resources that you need to fight or trade for and it would be a shame if you could simply mass produce them. I am not quite sure about Living Metal but I want a "Paint ships with Living Metal" edict that makes them repair themselves slowly.

About more buildings in general: Yea, a more advanced production chain could be interesting, same for more "rural" buildings, maybe buildings that boost districts further.

Also we need buildings for the different research departments.

Zro is so rare now that I don't even know what it's for anymore. If it's for reducing the shroud cost then it's pretty useless as entering the shroud is super cheap now. I think Zro should be used to enter the shroud, it makes in-world sense as it's described as an exotic, psionic enhancing dust. It's currently too rare to use that for as it would be incredibly expensive to enter the shroud under those circumstances. I think if they made the shroud rewards better/better RNG then maybe it'd be worth it but right now Zro is rare for me and I can only assume that it doesn't do much.

 

[_Chrysippus_]

As for the technicality. Using alloys, a material mainly used for spacecraft seems fitting for transportation aka cars, trains, etc, or just aircrafts and ships. Hell it makes sense for an overly millitaristic society to use alloys to make consumer goods, as they would pride themselves on a spartan way of life where decor and goods are made of hard materials. It could also be an argument for recycling, as using really good alloys for cars makes cars last longer, using them for tables makes tables last longer and if something breaks you can recycle the materials more easily. In fact I'd argue a -10% consumer goods use on the planet could be a cool planet-unique building effect for a recycling themed building like that.

Granted that's a good point, it just doesn't make much sense to me to undertake the financial and industrial lengths of improving materials to the quality of military standards, just to turn around and make televisions and view screens out of it. Materially speaking, it seems to me that alloys are a superior resource than simple consumer goods that can be made out of raw minerals, thus making a superior resource into something less than it is. I feel like it'd cost more to do so than just making consumer goods out of raw minerals.